Unlearning as a function of second-list error instructions
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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine whether second-list error rate is related to the magnitude of the unlearning effect in the A-C paradigm. Two types of instructions were designed to change the error rate, instructions for maximizing or minimizing guessing and instructions requesting List-1 recall when S was unable to give the correct List-2 response. Although these instructions were highly successful in modifying second-list error rate, List-2 learning and List-1 recall were virtually unchanged. These results suggest that the critical variable is the total number of error tendencies (overt and covert) and that changes in the overt error rate merely reflect changes in the overt/covert ratio and not changes in the number of these tendencies.